In Aftermath of Newtown Shootings, UB’s Nickerson and Colleagues Call for ‘Meaningful Action’

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The director of the University at
Buffalo’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention is
among nine school violence prevention researchers and practitioners
in the country who on Dec. 19 released a detailed position
statement in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School
shootings.

“The Newtown tragedy is incredibly shocking and
saddening,” said Amanda B. Nickerson, PhD, director of
UB’s Alberti Center and associate professor in the Department
of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology in UB’s
Graduate School of Education.

“Uniting with other scholars who study the issues of
violence prevention and school safety provided an important
opportunity to come to a balanced consensus about the most critical
issues that we must face in order to achieve meaningful action in
light of this tragedy.”

Nickerson was one of the nine co-authors from universities
throughout the nation who drafted the statement and who are acting
as contacts and spokespeople for the larger group they
represent.

The position statement, released through an organization called
the Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School and Community
Violence, was endorsed by more than 100 professional organizations
representing over 4 million professionals from groups such as the
American Federation of Teachers, multiple divisions of the American
Psychological Association, the Child Welfare League of America and
other education and mental health associations.

The statement also earned the endorsement of more than 100
nationally recognized researchers and practitioners, including
deans of prominent university colleges of education and social
work.

The driving force behind the statement was to communicate
scientifically informed principles and recommendations for
practitioners, policymakers and the public at large. The co-authors
hope the statement will “build consensus on a course of
meaningful action.”

“We all share a common priority: Keeping our children
safe,” the researchers and practitioners state. “We
need to come together in our communities to share our grief and
talk about how we can move forward in light of this tragic
event.

“While schools are of paramount concern, the location of a
shooting is not its most important feature, although it is the most
visible,” the document stated. “From the standpoint of
prevention, what matters more is the motivation behind a shooting.
It is too soon to draw conclusions about this case, but in every
mass shooting we must consider two keys to prevention: (1) the
presence of severe mental illness and/or (2) an intense
interpersonal conflict that the person could not resolve or
tolerate.”

The group also urged caution about intensifying security within
schools.

“We cannot and should not turn our schools into
fortresses. Effective prevention cannot wait until there is a
gunman in a school parking lot. We need resources such as mental
health supports and threat assessment teams in every school and
community so that people can seek assistance when they recognize
that someone is troubled and requires help.”

The latest document updates the School Shootings Position
Statement that was released nationally following the tragic
school-related shootings of 2006.

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